John Randall, PhD
Chief Technical Officer
Zyvex Corporation

Educational path
BS, MS, and PhD in Electrical Engineering (University of Houston)

Special training for nanotechnology
Worked for five years in an analytical laboratory while in Graduate school using: scanning electron microscopes, x-ray analysis tools (energy dispersive spectroscopy, x-ray fluorescence, and powder diffraction), vacuum deposition equipment, etc.

Tips/Advice to jumpstart a career in nanotechnology
Know how to program in at least one language, take every math course that you can, and become very good at your chosen discipline. Find an aspect of nanotechnology within your chosen field that fascinates you. Be willing to take risks and expect to fail every once and a while. No guts, no glory!

Why did you choose the field of nanotechnology?
I knew that I wanted to do something in the science and engineering field that was really challenging. Chemistry baffled me and I liked stereos, so electrical engineering was attractive. To do something really challenging in electrical engineering, the most exciting paths were to go small. I have been looking for tough challenges and grand visions ever since. This started with ultrasmall targets for e-beam memory, and moved to x-ray and e-beam lithography. I was going to save the IC industry with ion-beam lithography, then quantum effect devices and circuits. When neither of those worked, I got into high-resolution patterning at Texas Instruments (for their most advanced nodes). Most recently, I have had the opportunity to work at Zyvex on some very exciting near term products: nanomanipulators, nanomaterials (currently used in baseball bats, hockey sticks, and bicycles and soon to be in many other things), and some miniaturized marvels that will soon hit the market, and the grandest vision of them all: Atomically Precise Manufacturing!

How did you first get into nanotechnology?
It started with my job in graduate school working with a scanning electron microscope where I could see things smaller than even the most powerful optical microscope could see. It seemed like making things that were that small would be fun and rewarding.

What is it like to work in nanotechnology?
Everyday there are new and exciting challenges. I get to work with some really smart and interesting people. Our opportunities for dramatic successes that will have an enormous impact on our economy and quality of life are what make this the best job I could imagine.